IPL 2018: It was disappointing not be retained by RCB, says Chris Gayle
What’s the story?
After being snubbed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the auctions, Chris Gayle has been firing on all cylinders for the Kings XI Punjab this season. He has stepped out to open and looks like a man determined to mute all his detractors.
However, behind that nonchalant mannerism, Gayle is not entirely chuffed at not being retained by RCB.
"Not "one of". I was their biggest draw. It was disappointing from that end because they had called me. They wanted me on the team and I was told that I will be retained. But they never called back after that," Gayle was as quoted in an interview by Cricbuzz.
The details
Gayle also said that not being retained came as a surprise, but at the same time, it's fine with him.
He further elaborated that he was coming off a bumper CPL and BPL seasons, and the fact that he has 21 T20 centuries to his name is ample proof of his caliber.
However, he went on to say that he has now moved on, and is very happy playing for the Kings XI Punjab where he is looking to win the season for the team.
"Perhaps it was supposed to happen, you know. King Gayle; destined to be playing for Kings XI Punjab," Gayle quipped.
In case you didn’t know…
Royal Challengers Bangalore did not make any bids for Chris Gayle after they retained Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Sarfaraz Khan ahead of the auctions.
Also, they used their RTM cards on Yuzvendra Chahal and Pawan Negi.
Gayle was snapped up by Kings XI Punjab in the final round of auctions for his base price of Rs 2 crore and he has already scored a century for his new team this season.
What’s next?
Although he appears to be not very concerned, there are bound to be friction between the players and the franchise if there is no communication.
It will thus be interesting to see how things pan out when Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore meet.
Author’s take
There were few skeptics who had written off Chris Gayle before the IPL, but the Jamaican has thundered on for Kings XI Punjab.
In four matches this season, he has already scored 252 runs which include a century with a strike rate of 161.53.
While Kings XI Punjab have got off to the perfect start, RCB have struggled to get any sort of momentum.